Douglas Reeman, author – obituary

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Douglas Reeman, the novelist, who has died aged 92, was a master of the nautical adventure yarn, with worldwide sales of more than 34 million books; under the pseudonym Alexander Kent he wrote a long series following the career of the Royal Navy officer Richard Bolitho from the American Revolution to the Napoleonic wars, while the novels he published under his own name often drew on his experiences in the Second World War.

The typical hero of a Reeman novel is an amiable but bloody-minded sailor who sidesteps attempts by his bungling superiors to prevent him from engaging with the enemy on his own terms, and scores a famous victory against the odds. The brass hats patronise him on account of...